Preferences and Preference Sets

Preference sets are key to making Canvastic work for students. They allow Canvastic to be customized for the user. They allow it to grow with the user. This is a signature feature of Canvastic. Be sure to read this entire section. You can customize the Tools, Colors, Choices, Preview, Document and Browser palettes, document size and placement, and spell checking function. The preference sets can be adjusted as the users become comfortable with the tools and options. Certain activities may be better facilitated with a custom preference set.

Before making changes to the preference sets you must be logged into the computer as an administrator. Limited users, such as students, will not be able to make these kinds of changes. You can make all these adjustments but first you must open the Preferences window. Under Macintosh OS X choose Preferences... from the Canvastic menu. Under Windows choose Preferences... from the Edit menu.

The Preferences Window will show you the presently selected set in the title bar. If it says “Default.cpf”, Canvastic will continue to automatically start up using that preference set until you make a change.If you would prefer that your users choose the preference set at startup, UNcheck the “Use only default preferences” checkbox on the Other tab. Then click the Save button.

Note: You will find several important sections below. A complete understanding of Canvastic’s Preferences features is highly recommended:

• Preferences Window and Tabs

• Default Preferences or Users Choose from a List

• Included Preference Sets

• Creating and Saving Your Own Sets

• Locking Preference Sets

• Alternate Preference Folder Location.

The Preferences Window

Theses images show the 4 tabs of the Preferences window; Document Size, Window Size, Spelling, Other.

The Document Size Tab: This is how new documents will be sized and viewed.

• Adjust the height and width in inches, pixels or cm.
• Adjust the magnification on screen. This can help show the entire page on screen without having to use scroll bars.
• Resolution is set at 72dpi.

The Window Size Tab: This is how document's window will be sized and viewed.

• Decide on a window that is maximized or in a fixed location on the screen. This maximize choice is easy but it may be harder to place the tool palettes. Fixed allows you to place the window exactly where you want it to appear.
• When Fixed is the choice you can enter the pixel coordinates (hard) or adjust a real window and use the Get Frontmost button (easy) to capture its coordinates.
• Resolution is set at 72dpi.
• Offset new windows places new ones slightly down and to the right of the previous document. Not recommended for elementary students.

The Spelling Tab: This is where the Spell Check feature can be controlled.

• Decide on whether you want to enable Spell Check or not.
• Decide if you want to enable the Spell Check learning button or not.

The Other Tab: These controls effect how the palettes and preferences work.

• Palettes can be locked to prevent accidental movement and tool hiding by younger users. Recommended for elementary students.
• The color swatches can be locked to prevent accidental access to the system's color picker with a double click. Recommended for primary elementary students.
• The Contextual menu can be disabled preventing Control click and right click access to menu commands. Recommended for primary elementary students.
• The 3 color choice columns in the Colors palette can be linked for younger users. Line and Fill can be linked leaving Text separate. All 3 can be linked for very young students.
• Canvastic will launch with a default preference set until you uncheck the “Use only default preferences” checkbox to allow students to select from a list of preferences at startup. You’ll find more details about that below.
• You can designate an alternate folder as the preferences folder, including a shared location on a network. This allows the sets to be adjusted in one place but provides those adjustments to everyone on the network immediately.

Default Preference Sets or Preference List Choice

Canvastic ships with a collection of preference sets that are stored in the Preferences Library, but you can create your own and customize your work environment as you'd like. Note: By default Canvastic will start up using the default preferences that are at at a 3rd to 4th grade level. If you want your students to have a customized environment you must UNcheck the 'Use only default preferences' check box on the Other tab. Then click Save. From that point forward, users will be presented with a list of the sets that are in the Preferences folder.

Preference sets within the Preferences folder will be available for students to choose. Preference sets within the Preferences Library folder are "in storage" and will not be available to choose. Copy or Save the preferences sets you want your students to use into the Preferences folder. You can reset Canvastic to use the default preferences again by checking the “Use only default preferences” checkbox.

Included Preference Sets

The standard preference sets included are shown labeled below. Note: You can change the preference set names as long as you keep the .cpf extension. All the preference sets were re-designed for Version 3.

• K.cpf
• 1st_Grade.cpf
• 2nd_Grade.cpf
• 3rd_Grade.cpf
• 4th_Grade.cpf
• 5th_Grade_landscape.cpf
• 5th_Grade_portrait.cpf
• Advanced_landscape.cpf
• Advanced_portrait.cpf

There are some activity specific preference sets included in the Preferences Library folder. This is found in the Extras folder.

• Object only landscape.cpf
• Object only portrait.cpf
• Paint only landscape.cpf
• Paint only portrait
• Primary counting.cpf

The Canvastic preference selection window

K is the simplest and the Advanced choices are the most complex and capable. When you launch Canvastic you will see them in a list if you have copied them into the Preferences folder. You should choose one and click the Open button. It will be important to instruct students which set to choose when they start Canvastic. The names of the sets can be changed. They can be deleted. You can create other sets or just adjust one of the included sets. You could have a set for each grade level or class and name it accordingly if desired. All preference sets must have the .cpf extension.

During a session in Canvastic, you can change preference sets. To do so, open the Preferences window and press the Open... button in it.

The standard preference sets were created for a common screen resolution; 1024 x 768. If your computer's screen resolution is larger or smaller than these, you may want to create your own sets to use your screen space more efficiently.

The preference sets can also be used as launching documents for Canvastic under Macintosh only. Configure the set and save it with an appropriate name. (An extension of '.cpf' is required.) Create an alias or shortcut of the preference file and move it to a convenient location on the hard drive or desktop. When you double-click the preference file, alias, or shortcut, Canvastic will launch and create a new document according to the settings in the preference file.

The preferences included with the program are named in an obvious manner. You should explore each one and make choices about how you would like to change them for your students. See the next section for those instructions.

Creating and Saving Your Own Sets

Careful attention to these instructions will ensure success with your customized preference sets. Follow this checklist so you don't forget anything. You will be opening and closing the Preferences Window and making adjustments to the palettes, tools, choices, and colors before you save the changes.

1. Open Canvastic and choose the preference set that is closest to the one you want to create.
2. Open the Preferences window.
3. Unlock the Palettes by un-checking the Lock Palettes check box.
4. Choose the Height and Width for the default document and type those values in the appropriate boxes.
5. Choose whether you want the document windows to be of maximum size or in a fixed position. If you choose fixed, you can type the exact locations for the edges of the document window or use the "Use Frontmost" button to grab those measurements from the present top document window. So, arrange the document window first then go back to the Preferences Window and use this button.
6. Choose whether to enable the Spell Check feature and if so whether to enable the “Learn” button.
7. Hide or Show tools to create your preferred set of tools by using the side menu on the Tools palette.
8. Change and add colors to create your preferred set of colors.
9. Hide or Show the Preview palette, Choices palette, Document palette and Browser palette using choices from the Window menu.
10. Arrange the palettes in the exact locations desired.
11. Choose the colors, line thickness, font, size etc. from the Choices palette for every tool for which you want to control the default settings. Note: To make sure your choices "stick" when you save the preference set, choose each tool, change all of the settings, then use that tool on the canvas; make a line, box etc. Then do not adjust those settings again until after you have saved the set. You must change every setting for every tool if you want them to "stick".
12. Choose the tool that you wish to be the default tool choice.
13. Return to the Preferences window and lock the palettes if desired.
14. Make appropriate choices for the color linking settings.
15. Click the Save As... button and give your new preference set a descriptive name. You must save into the Preferences folder that is within the Canvastic folder.

Locking the Preference Sets

The preference sets can be locked so users cannot easily change your settings. Locking the preference sets is done in the operating system not while running Canvastic. You can “lock” the preferences by changing the read/write permissions on the Preferences folder.

Windows directions:

1. Quit Canvastic if it is running.
2. Locate the preference that you wish to lock in the Windows Explorer. It should be in the Preferences folder that is in the Canvastic folder.
3. Select the file with a single click and right click on the file. Choose Properties from the contextual menu.
4. Click in the "Read-only" check box.

Note: To later change and re-save this preference set you must do the reverse of the directions above. Canvastic will not tell you that the set is locked.

Note: If the Canvastic folder’s permissions restrict the user, you must be logged into the computer as an administrator to make any changes there.

Alternate Preferences Folder Location

If you decide that your students should choose from a list of preference sets, you will soon realize that you will want to change the sets periodically. This happens with primary students more often than with more advanced students because you will want to introduce tools, palettes, and features in a planned systematic way. This is one of the most useful capabilities that Canvastic offers for student laboratory installations.

See the sections above for step-by-step instructions for editing the sets. The changes will have to be made on each computer station unless you use the Alternate Preferences Folder Location feature. If your computer stations typically have a network server mounted, you can place your Preferences folder on the server. Then using the Select button from the Other tab of the Preferences Window you can tell any/all computers to use that server-based folder. This must be done on each computer station that you want to read its preferences from the server.

Then when you make a small change to a preference set like adding a new tool for primary students for example, every student on your network gets the change immediately.